Chapter 25: Li Yunlong: Young man, you damn well missed!

Boom boom boom!

Both sides about to engage, whether the New 1st Regiment or the two infantry battalions of the Japanese Sakata Regiment, were temporarily halted in their advance by a sudden artillery attack, and the completely unprepared Japanese were instantly stunned.

In fact, the Japanese infantry battalions had heard the sound of artillery firing, but most of the Japanese thought it was their own artillery laying down fire on the enemy, and many Japanese merely cursed in their hearts those high-and-mighty people who didn't care about the lives of these foot soldiers.

As for the Eighth Route Army's artillery? Don't kid yourself—if the Eighth Route Army opposite had any guns, they would have already blown up their own commander's headquarters with a single shot.

The Japanese soldiers' individual quality in this era was still quite good; upon being hit by artillery, lower-ranking officers immediately organized the infantry to begin moving and attempted to contact their own artillery to strike the enemy's artillery positions.

But soon!

Another round of artillery fire fell.

This time the Japanese weren't so lucky; this round's artillery parameters were spot-on, as if corrected, and the Japanese infantry regiment suffered heavy losses—truly, luck was on the Eighth Route Army's side.

On the artillery position of the 386th Brigade of the 129th Division several li away, the brigade commander muttered while looking at the expended shells.

"Damn it, Li Yunlong, you'd better come back alive!"

On the battlefield, any hesitation will lead to a passive situation. Especially since their opponent is Li Yunlong, who never lets any opportunity slip.

Compared to the Japanese's shock, Li Yunlong only needed a moment's thought to understand the situation.

The 1st Regiment and the 2nd Regiment had no artillery of their own; the nearest unit that could support him was the brigade commander, but that's all the brigade had, so from now on they'd have to rely on themselves.

Just thinking of the brigade commander's appearance moved even the tough-as-nails Li Yunlong.

These thoughts flashed by, and the New 1st Regiment quickly reorganized and resumed the attack.

"Comrades, the brigade commander can only help us this far; now it's up to us. Take the head of that old Japanese, Sakata, and present it to the brigade commander—New 1st Regiment, attack!"

Rat-tat-tat... rat-tat-tat

The assault team's light machine-gun fire rang out continuously along the mountain road.

Experienced machine-gunners, with their stepped attack, literally produced the effect of a heavy machine gun, and the dense bullets slammed hard into the foremost Japanese.

At this point, a matter of life and death for both sides, the Japanese machine guns also began to return fire.

Each little Japanese, following their squad leader's orders, began to gather under their respective medicine flags, coordinating with heavy weapons to launch an attack.

Soldiers of the New 1st Regiment began to fall in droves, but this did not affect the speed of the counterattack.

Finally, the two forces came into direct contact.

Zhang Dabiao's assault team, under the cover of machine guns and rifles, fiercely plunged into the Japanese infantry battalion, disrupting the Japanese formation like a dagger.

Most of the assault team's soldiers used bolt-action rifles, which had many advantages over ordinary rifles in close-quarters combat.

The machine gunners behind the assault team began to find suitable spots for free fire, while the infantry behind them fixed bayonets and charged at the Japanese, fighting alongside the assault team.

Seeing the little Japanese begin to shake off the confusion caused by the artillery fire and gradually organize themselves—something Zhang Dabiao did not want to see—once the Japanese completed their assembly, the assault team's offensive could be blocked, so he issued a new order.

"Throw all the grenades out, use the offensive type, don't get them wrong."

For a moment, the Japanese in front of the assault team were blown sky-high, dozens of Japanese were blown to pieces alive, and the hard-won bit of organization collapsed again.

At this moment, Regimental Commander Li, holding a broadsword in one hand and a bolt-action rifle in the other, entered the battlefield escorted by the guard platoon; he had just cut down a Japanese,

he immediately shot another Japanese trying to sneak up on him. Guard Huzi was responsible for his rear security, always ready to sally forth and meet the enemy.

As the charge progressed, they soon reached the artillery spot previously selected by Wang Chengzhu. Under the cover of concentrated fire, and with the Japanese positions lacking any fortifications or cover, the New 1st Regiment executed its battle plan with unstoppable force.

Wang Chengzhu's artillery crew began setting up a mortar on the Japanese position. He lowered the base, inserted the barrel, adjusted the bipod—smooth, practiced motions that would earn a thumbs-up even from a nickname-man. In just half a minute, a 60mm mortar was assembled.

After the gun position was set, Wang Chengzhu took a deep breath to steady himself. As usual, he raised his thumb, squinted his eyes to aim, then after adjusting the mortar's parameters, he told the ammunition handler beside him: "Give me a shell."

The ammunition handler beside him, also a veteran of the artillery crew, promptly handed over a mortar shell.

Picking up the shell handed by the ammunition handler, Wang Chengzhu seemed to become a different person. No longer the meek yes-man who deferred to the regiment commander, he was now a battlefield arbiter of death.

Seeing Wang Chengzhu decide to fire so quickly, Li Yunlong, while firing his gun, added a uneasy reminder.

"Young man, you damn well better aim right. Firing at the Japanese in their position—this isn't the first time you've done it."

"The guard platoon must establish a blocking position right here, making sure to buy the artillery enough time. Don't worry about wasting ammo—ammo can be replenished, but lives cannot."

Having said that, he immediately began leading everyone in a standing defense, ensuring Wang Chengzhu's artillery crew would not be affected by the Japanese.

It seemed that upon seeing the Eighth Route Army set up a mortar, the surrounding Japanese went berserk, launching attacks on this position; the pressure on Li Yunlong's guard platoon grew ever greater. The bolt-action rifles fired nonstop—each shot felled a Japanese, but another quickly took his place.

"Young man, you damn well hurry up—we're about to be overwhelmed!"

Wang Chengzhu ignored the regiment commander cursing beside him and shoved the shell into the muzzle.

After releasing it, the shell slid into the breech, and the artillery crew instantly ducked sideways.

"Boom!" (That really is the sound of a 60mm mortar—clear and pleasant, a sign of a good gun.)

A wisp of blue smoke rose from the muzzle, flames burst forth, and a shell arced through the air toward the headquarters of brigade commander Sakata Nobutetsu. Unfortunately, the shell missed, its angle a bit high, striking the communications antenna of Sakata Nobutetsu's headquarters.

"Young man, you damn well missed— that old Japanese is down below."

At the same time, in the Japanese army's headquarters, Sakata was observing the battlefield with his staff officer.

He never imagined that the Eighth Route Army would give him such a big surprise today. The enemy's collective countercharge had already made him think the opposing commander was mad, and the ensuing artillery fire turned his face pale, for he had never considered that the other side still had artillery.

"Still, it's fine—no matter how crazy these enemies get, close-quarters combat is unavoidable."

"No way!"

The bayonet fight he had hoped for did not turn out as he imagined; in his mind, Japanese warriors fighting Chinese troops in close combat would surely tear the enemy apart like a bamboo split.

But the infantry of the Eighth Route Army's vanguard engaging in bayonet combat had already begun to lose ground; the envisioned scene of instant collapse did not occur, and the battle between the two sides was extremely brutal.

Japanese soldiers normally undergo two years of training before hitting the battlefield, and learning bayonet tactics takes up a third of that. That amounts to eight months of day-and-night companionship with the bayonet, so their prowess in bayonet fighting is no surprise. Moreover, Japan adjusted bayonet length according to its soldiers' actual physiques to suit their smaller stature, so they could wield them effectively on the battlefield.

Sakata Nobutetsu really couldn't accept it!

His own country's warriors actually ended up at a disadvantage in the bayonet fight.

At that moment, an explosion sounded directly above him, and the nearby staff officer rushed forward to shield Sakata Nobutetsu as yellow earth and dust spread throughout the headquarters.